St Margaret's Bay

St Margaret's at Cliffe · South Kent · shingle

Sheltered shingle bay below the White Cliffs.

What the tide does here

At a spring high tide about 48% of St Margaret's Bay is out of the water. By spring low the sea has drawn back roughly 130 metres, uncovering 88% of it — about 35 hectares of shingle.

St Margaret's Bay at high water: the dry beach shaded on a satellite map — **High water, 6.1 m above chart datum.** About 49% of St Margaret's Bay is out of the water.

St Margaret's Bay at low water: the dry beach shaded on a satellite map — **Low water, 1.4 m above chart datum.** About 77% is uncovered.

Dogs

Dogs are banned from the beach between the slipway and Ness Point from 9am to 6pm, 1 May to 30 September. Dogs must be on a lead on the promenade, car park and grassed areas all year.

Water quality

Classified Excellent by the Environment Agency in 2025, sampled as "St Margaret`s Bay", a designated bathing water since 1988. Daily pollution risk forecasts appear on this page in the bathing season.

Lifeguards

No RNLI lifeguard patrol here.

Facilities

Nearby: public toilets, parking and a café or kiosk. Steps down to beach; limited access.

All Kent beaches on Beach Days

Tide predictions © UK Hydrographic Office. Beach shape from Environment Agency LIDAR survey data, © Environment Agency, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Facilities and places from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Bathing water classifications from the Environment Agency. Satellite imagery © Mapbox, © Maxar.